Teaching

The chapter this week largely focuses on the prophecy of Isaiah – in the southern kingdom of Judah. In our Bibles, the book of Isaiah takes up a large chunk with 66 chapters. The Story only takes excerpts from chapters 3, 6, 13 &14, 49 and 53. If we were reading in the original Hebrew, you’d notice stylistic differences between the earlier chapters and the later ones. Because of stylistic difference and changes in historical circumstances, Biblical scholars generally believe that there are three distinct authors or sections of the book of Isaiah. They are named First, Second and Third Isaiah, even though these divisions aren’t marked in any bible.[1]

First Isaiah is contained in chapter 1-39. It was written by a prophet named Isaiah in Jerusalem in the 8th century BCE. First Isaiah shares his prophecy when the people are still living in Judah and are ruled by kings of the line of David. First Isaiah shares a lot of warning and words of rebuke to the faithless people of Judah.

Second Isaiah is contained in chapters 40-55. The historical context changes in this part of the book of Isaiah because now the people are in exile in Babylon. It is written during the exile, 200 years after Isaiah of Jerusalem wrote first Isaiah. Because it was written during the exile, the people of Judah already feel punished, so the prophet speaks words of hope, like “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth” (Isa 43: 18-19). Second Isaiah is often named as one of the greatest prophets of the OT.

Third Isaiah is contained in chapters 56-66. It was written by followers of Second Isaiah when the exile ended and the people returned home from Babylon. Things in the post-exilic period weren’t easy and a sense of disillusionment is present in the writing.

Whether its 1st, 2nd or 3rd Isaiah, many of the connections between Jesus and the Old Testament come from the book of Isaiah. This is especially evident during Advent and Christmas, when we read from Isaiah 9, “For unto us a children is born. Unto us a song is given. And he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Or from Isaiah 40 “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Sermon

The Story Chapter 16 – The Beginning of the End (of the Kingdom of Israel)

Prayer:

Holy One, your word is a light in the darkness

and a source of blessing.

Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us;

enliven our hearts and minds

as we hear your word for us today. Amen.

Last week, we heard from some rough sounding prophets who shared messages of death and destruction – Amos and Hosea. As prophets, they shared God’s message of divine judgment on the unfaithful in the northern kingdom of Israel. The prophecies of Amos and Hosea were fulfilled against the bad kings of Israel when the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the powerful Assyrians in 722 BCE. The Israelites were taken into exile. The Assyrians shared a common practice in ancient times of scattering a conquered people. To ensure that the defeated people wouldn’t rise up and rebel against their new imperial rulers, the Assyrians sent the ruling elites and Israelite leaders to different different places. Some went to Egypt and some went to the Nineveh. Never again would these people be gathered together as a unified nation of ten tribes, which made up the northern Kingdom.

With the Northern Kingdom fallen, there was still hope for the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Unlike the northern kingdom, Judah was ruled by some kings who were faithful to God. But sadly, Judah also knew kings who rejected God and were faithful to Baal. God still yearned for a relationship with the people of Judah and wished they would life their lives in accordance with the laws of Moses. And so God sent a messenger to share God’s message with Judah, his name was Isaiah. Isaiah shared God’s message during a turbulent time for Judah. The Northern Kingdom had been sent into exile. The Assyrians and later the Babylonians were threatening to conquer Judah. Within this context, Isaiah shares his prophecy.

The prophecy of Isaiah is far more hopeful than the prophets of the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah shares God’s hope for better times when God and God’s people are in right relationship again. As Isaiah speaks God’s message to Judah, he also shares a piece of God’s dream. In chapter 11, Isaiah shares God’s dream of the peaceable kingdom. Isaiah says… (read from your Bible – Isaiah 11: 1-9)

These words from Isaiah were not spoken in a moment of reverie when the beauty of the mountain brooks and the serenity of the quiet pasturelands stirred the prophet. He was not watching a dazzling sunset. He was watching the great and overpowering Assyrian army as they sliced their way through his native land. He was living through what has been called the first holocaust of the Jews. It occurred between 740 and 700 B.C.E. Five times during these 40 years the Assyrian armystampeded through the hill country of Israel. Over and over and over, the people of Isaiah's Judah had been ravaged. The horrid sounds of war were ever familiar. The cries of pain seldom ceased. It was a horrible forty years, those years in which Isaiah lived.

But the prophet spoke. "Even though the world has become a living nightmare," he was saying, "even though there is no sign anywhere that peace will ever come, even though human greed and destructiveness are running rampant across our world, hear this: THE PROMISE OF GOD IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE DESTRUCTIVENESS OF HUMANITY! Let me say that again: The promise of God is more powerful than the destructiveness of humanity! The wolf shall dwell with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid.[2]

Woody Allen once quipped that the day may well come when the lion will lie down with the lamb, but the lamb isn’t going to get much sleep! But seriously, this prophecy from Isaiah does seem like a utopian vision. But this is the vision of God’s dream for the people and God’s creation. God dreams a time of peace and justice.

Pastoral Prayer…

We gather these and all our prayers, thankful that we may turn to you as to a Mother watching over us, as Our Father who art in heaven ...

1

[1] Bernhard Anderson et al. Understanding the Old Testament – 5th Ed. (Prentice Hall: Upper Salle Creek, NJ, 2007), 429-55.

[2]